'Stressed' Trott to leave Ashes

Jonathan Trott has left England's Ashes tour because of a stress-related illness.

England's number three batsman has endured an ongoing battle with the illness for some time and is to take a break from cricket for the "foreseeable future", the England and Wales Cricket Board has announced.

Hugh Morris, managing director of England cricket, said: "The cricket side of things is unimportant now, all that matters is that Jonathan is given the time, support and space he needs to recover.

"We fully support his decision to leave the tour, and the ECB will provide all the assistance we can to help Jonathan and his family through this period.

"Jonathan has asked for privacy while he recovers, and I would urge everyone to respect that."

Trott, 32, had a difficult first Ashes Test at the Gabba - twice falling cheaply to Mitchell Johnson - and his batting was subsequently described as "poor" and "weak" by Australia opener David Warner.

England have no plans at this stage to replace Trott in their squad.

Trott himself said: "I don't feel it is right that I'm playing knowing that I'm not 100 per cent and I cannot currently operate on the level that I have done in the past.

"My priority now is to take a break from cricket so that I can focus on my recovery. I want to wish my team-mates all the very best for the remainder of the tour."

England team director Andy Flower revealed that Trott has been struggling with the illness for some time and that he will now spend time with his family.

"Trotty has been suffering from a stress-related condition for quite a while," he told a press conference televised by Sky Sports News.

"He's always managed it very successfully and he's been a brilliant international batsman for England and hopefully will continue to be a brilliant international batsman for England in the future.

"But he needs time away from this environment for a while, he needs time with his family, he needs time to reassess and spend some time with his family.

"This isn't the type of environment for that type of rest and recuperation that he requires."

Cricket Australia High performance director, Pat Howard has candidly admitted that he took a back-seat and allowed Darren Lehmann, the coach of the Australian team to implement his ideas during the recently concluded Ashes series.